Damaged Goods
by applescherriesalways
Summary: Kate and Rick are married, and planning to move to the othe side of twn to start a family. It's Kate's last day on the job, when everything is turned around and upside down. Includes the whole cast. Starts with angst, but gets less angsty later on. Rated M for later chapters.
1. Chapter 1

"Last day on the job," she whispered to herself. Her and Castle had come to the decision to move to the other side of town, into a house, because they wanted to start trying for a family.

_"I don't want to be a cop when I have a family. I dont want to risk not coming home to my children. I don't want them to grow up without their mother."_

_"Okay, so what's gonna hapoen, honey?" he asked, nuzzling his nose into her neck as he stood behind her._

_"No more, I'm done. I'll find another job."_

Three knocks reverberated through the loft, and Kate walked out from the master bedroom to see who it was.

"Castle, what did you forg-" she cut her words short, when she saw the face of the intruder.

"Tyson, what the hell are you doing here?"

She was scared, but she hid it, there was no way in hell she would let him know.

"Payback, for your husband, ruining my life. And now. I'm going to ruin his."

What happened next was all too fast for Kate to comprehend. It was all a blur.

Glock, shots, pain, scampering feet, and blood. Lots and lots of blood. Too much blood, way too much.

She tried reaching for her phone in her pocket, but she couldn't move. Her body already too stiff and weak. This was the end, Castle wasn't there to save her this time.

He had always been there, jumping in front of bullets, knocking out criminals, running into burning apartments, just saving her life time and time again. But not this time, this was it. And just thinking about it brought tears to her eyes, and she let them spill.

They ran down her temples, and rested in her hair and in the curves in her ears. There was no pain left in her body, everything slowly numbing, as if she were having a bath in local anaesthetic.

She fought against the tiredness in her body, but she couldn't for much longer. It was begining to wear her down. "I love you, Castle."

The milky blackness swallowed her whole, pulling her under its spell. It was lights out, and all she wanted was to be with her husband.

"So when do you leave?"

"Tomorrow afternoon. And, Lex, you can visit any time you want," he smiled, and his daughter returned it.

"Kate?!" Alexis cried running up to her lifeless body. "Dad!" she screamed.

"Kate? No, no, no. Alexis hand me that blanket off the back of the couch. Call an ambulance, now!"

He pressed the soft blanket to her wound and applied pressure as his daughter panickly called for the paramedics.

"Yeah, ambulance. No don't you dare put me on hold!"

"Kate, hey. You gotta fight this sweetie, please. Don't back down okay? I love you so much, you can do this," he rambled on.

And he just continued saying soothing nothings, in desperate hope that somehow she could hear him.

Her face was pale, she basically had no colour left in her features. It was all drained.

Deja Vu. His mind flashed back to when she was lying on the grass of the cemetery, with a bullet in her chest. Only this time, it was their living room floor and the shots were to her stomach.

35 minutes her brain was without oxygen before the ambulance arrived.

Tears trailed down his cheeks, painting hot wet trails. "Doc, how is she?"

"Mr Castle, you might want to sit down," he offered politely. He easily could have been mostaken for Castle's love child or younger brother. He had the dark hair, the beautiful blue eyes, and the same nose.

"No!" he shouted. "Just tell me what's happening with my wife!" his voice broke on the last word.

"He brain was deprived of oxygen, and we are not sure for how long. Without oxyen, her brain is leterally dead. We were able to stabilise the bleeding, but she can't breathe on her own, the ventilator is doing that for her. I'm sorry Mr Castle, but she's never going to wake up." And with that, he turned to walk away.

He and Jim walked into the ICU room Kate was in, "Oh, Katie bug," Jim said, almost inaudibly.

"We have to choose whether to turn her life support off or not Rick."

"You're not actually considering this are you?" Anger flared in his eyes, he couldn't let her go.

He wasn't going to let that happen.

He sat on the plastic chair next to the hospital bed, and reached gently for her hand, being mindful of the IV drip in her hand.

He pressed his lips to her fingers. They were warm, that was something at least. She was still beautiful only more pale. If it weren't for the tubes, cords and beeping machines, you would think she was sick and in a deep slumber.

Muffled conversation floated around the room from the waiting room behind the closed door. But there was a conversation that was less muffled than the rest, it was closer. Jim and the doctor. Doctor Martin? Yes, Doctor Martin.

"Turn it off, it's what she would want," came Jim's gruff voice.

"No," screamed Castle. He jumped up from his seat, and walked to the closed double door.

He looked around frantically, and on his left he spotted a metal pole where the IV fluids hang off. He picked the empty one and shoved it thtough the handles, so the door was unopenable.

"Open the door Rick!" It was Jim, he was panicking, and shouting.

He sat back in the seat, and took her hand in both of his once again. "No one can take you away from me Katherine. No one. I am so in love with you, don't leave me okay? Please." He sobbed into their linked fingers.

Rick reached into his jacket pocket and grabbed the stiletto knife he had. He clicked it and the blade appeared from the handle. It was placed next to Kate's hip, and he kissed her fingers again.

He knew if she was awake, she would tell him that there were no regrets, so he tried to think of all the positive times they spent together.

He must have fallen alseep, because when his eyes cracked open and travelled to the window in the door, there were about five police officers.

"Do you think he will use that knife against anyone or himself?" A male officer asked out loud, to anyone willing to answer.

"I-I dont know, I've never seen him like this before," Alexis piped in.


	2. Chapter 2

**A/N: I know this is a very short chapter, but everything is so hectic, so many exams for school. I'll be updating whenever I can. This chapter is for Sofia and Dana, I love you both. And I want to thank everybody for your story follows, story reviews and favouriting and stuff. I really appreciate it. Never thought I would get such a great response.**

Jim was going to let them turn off her life support, but he couldn't let them do it. There was no way he could survive without her in his life. He looked at her lifeless body. He suddenly remembered the tattoo she got on her wrist only three months prior. He turned her wrist in his hands, and read the black calligraphy ink; always. It was their thing, they had used it for years, the one word had so much meaning behind it. It meant so many things, I love you, thank you, you're welcome. But most importantly it meant forever, only longer.

His fingers traced it gently, spelling the word, almost like - no, exactly like - a silent promise to her. "Oh, who did this to you?" They say that when someone is in a coma, sometimes they can hear you. So Rick decided that there was no harm in trying. "Kate honey, I'm not sure if you can actually hear me or not, but it's worth a try. I just, I can't imagine my life without you, and I need you here. We all do. I wouldn't know how to cope with you gone, because without you I'm nothing," he took a deep stuttering breath, then continued.

"They want to turn off your life support, but I can't let them do that to us Kate. We've been through too much to give up now. You're a fighter, and I know they say you're never going to wake up Kate, but I believe in you. You're strong, you can do this, we can do it together."

Erratic beeping pulled Castle from his talk, and gave him a fright. His eyes widened, and he shouted at the doctor, "What is that? What's going on?" A muffled voice came from the other side of the door, "I need to adjust the ventilator, Mr Castle. But I have to go in there to do it."

"Fine but you, and you only. Nobody else, you hear me?" He grabbed the stiletto, and opened the door. With a few touches of the screen, the erraticness in the beeping had seized, and it was back to a steady rhythm.

"Out, get out."

"Ms Rodgers, Miss Castle, Mr Beckett, you should probably go home, get some rest. Any updates, you will be the first to know." She looked up at them, calmness and reassurance evident in her grey eyes.

Rick sat there looking at his beautiful wife. He wondered how he would cope with he gone, if that actually became something that happened. His fingers were tan led with here, in some kind of hope that she could feel his presence.

"Poor guy," whispered one of the two police officers left. She had dusty blonde hair, grey eyes, sharp features, absolutely beautiful.

"Yeah, I don't blame him. I would do the same if it were you in there," her partner replied. She offered a weak smile, and asked if he wanted a coffee. He thanked her after saying yes please.

Rick still had his eyes trained on Kate's face, he wondered who could do anything like that to a woman this amazing.

**A/N2: My fanfiction on my phone fucked up when i posted this chapter, so i fixed it up :)**


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